spring.cleaning.days.1.and.2

So here's spring cleaning days 1 and 2. You're not going to be too impressed because our family room is already pretty well childproof/minimalist/plain. There's not much to it because our kids would break things. And we don't have any shelving. Or toys in this room. Or anything to make it look overly cluttery (when it's tidy).

You will be happy to know that I woke up Monday morning and didn't pick up a thing! I walked all around and took pictures of each room/space just so you can see how messy my house really gets when no one has picked anything up for 3 days.

And even my "after" pictures of the family room don't show a lot (other than me having put the laundry away), but I did CLEAN everything. The fan, the t.v. stand, the windows, the trim and base, vacuumed under the cushions, washed all the throw blankets.

And now we come to the inside of the t.v. stand. Again, not overly messy or unorganized, although everything was crammed in there.  Here's what I did to organize:

• took everything out
• divided everything into piles: ours/theirs
• divided those piles: keep/give back (borrowed)/donate
• our movies/CDs went in the back of the top shelf (we only have a few and don't watch them that often)
• most of the girls' DVDs and CDs were put in the ladybug disc holder (this encourages them to just pull out the ladybug instead of everything in the cabinet!)
• the cases for those items were put in the back of the bottom shelf
• the VHS tapes (yes, we have a few!) were put in the front for easy acess, as were the more often viewed DVDs that didn't fit into the ladybug holder
• ahhhh.  much better.

Now, nobody touch anything or bring anything into the room!!! :)

The kitchen is next, and you'll definitely get some good contrast of pictures!

makin'.stuff

We know so many people who are having babies! I've been busy making nursing covers and tag blankets. I'm in the process of making an apron for my blogger buddy Myah! Yay!

motto.for.the.week

As you know, I am spring cleaning this week!  My motto for the week (the same as Simple Mom's):

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."  -William Morris

Josh is afraid that I'm going to throw a bunch of stuff away that we'll need for later.  Hopefully not.  I'll be sure to only toss if I feel a strong urge!  Either way, we'll have less stuff around which to work.  Yay!

Let the spring cleaning begin!  And I'm off...

college.sports

Of course we've been all about March Madness in our house.  We've been talking about the college teams and where they are located and how they play each other.

Meredith was asking all sorts of questions about college sports.  Namely, she wanted to know what sports are played by college students.  I was listing a few off the top of my head:  boys basketball, girls basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis, golf.

She says, "Is that all?" 

Me, "Well, really just about any sport you can think of...they probably play it."

(pause for 20 seconds...picture Meredith thinking hard...okay, now she an idea in her head and asks the best question of the week....)

Like hopscotch?

Ummmm....not hopscotch. :)

pizza.ideas

Oh boy, you guys!  I have fallen in love with making home made pizza.  And Amy at the Motherload just did a whole post about making home made pizza.  I can't wait to try out the new dough recipes...especially the Pizza Hut one!  Yum.

And I do still buy frozen pizza, but the home made kind is usually sooooo much tastier.  Although, we ate a Digiorno pizza (supreme) the other night while we were watching basketball.  It was probably the best frozen pizza I've ever had (and I bought it on sale for $3.88 during the week of the Super Bowl...makes it taste better!).

Anybody make home made pizza?

creamy.italian.chicken

This is one of the easiest and tastiest crock pot recipes that I have!  Josh's Aunt Carol gave it to me several years ago (and I modified it a bit...to make it even easier for me!).  I know a lot of people already use this one, but if you don't....it's a MUST try!

Creamy Italian Chicken
4 boneless chicken breasts (or several tenders)
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 of a package)
1/2 packet Italian dressing mix (the powdered stuff)

Place chicken breasts in crock pot.  Combine chicken soup, cream cheese (cubed...it'll be clumpy), and Italian dressing mix.  Pour over chicken and give it a stir.  Cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is done.  Serve over noodles or rice.  Yum.

spring.cleaning

A couple of weeks ago, I downloaded Simple Mom's Spring Cleaning for Normal People.  It's $7...that's it...and you download it right onto your computer.

I haven't even read the first page, but I'm so excited about it.  I think I'm going to start reading it tonight during the commercials of the basketball games!  It's only 68 pages (and they're short pages...not full length); it's not overwhelming at all!

I would l.o.v.e. it if a few of you downloaded it as well and we could be spring cleaning at the same time!  I'm going to be doing mine starting the weeks of March 29 and April 5.  I'm not sure how long it takes to spring clean, but I'm going to do it. 

Not only that, I'm going to post some before and after pictures!  You all might think that my house is clean all the time (because I clean it before you come!), but it's not...just ask my mom.  (She has horror stories about my master bathroom trash.) 

Here is a sample of a before picture that you might see:

I wish I had an after picture for you, but I don't.  Thankfully this was last year and my counter doesn't currently look like this!  But I'll be taking pictures of what's *inside* my cabinets.  Ick.  I don't even want to think about it right now.

Let me know if you think that you might clean along.  We'll all be in this together!  Anybody with me???

UPDATE:  I have officially read the entire e-book!  It only takes about an hour.  Several of the pages have cleaning supplies lists, checklists, etc.  AND the best part is at the back of the book where she shares simple homemade cleaning supplies!  I'm definitely going to be making a few of them. 

herbed.dinner.rolls

I made these dinner rolls the other night to eat with our leftovers of creamy chicken and wild rice soup.  Oh they are so good.  The first several times I made them, I put all of the herbs into the mix.  Then, someone asked me to bring plain white rolls to a gathering, and I liked these so well that I just took the herbs out!  They do need extra flour if you do this (see the notes section below). 

They mix in my bread machine for about 1 1/2 hours.  They take about 5-10 minutes to shape, 30 minutes to rise, and 10-15 minutes to bake.  From start to finish, I usually plan about 3 hours for these...so worth it!

The recipe came from a Quick Cooking magazine several years ago.  Enjoy...

Herbed Dinner Rolls 
1 cup water (70-80 degrees)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil, oregano, thyme, and dried rosemary (crushed)
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Additional butter, melted
Coarse salt, optional

In bread machine pan, place the water, softened butter, egg, sugar, salt, seasonings, flour and yeast in order suggested by manufacturer.  Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or four if needed). 

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough into 16 portions; shape each into a ball.  Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes (I check them at 10) or until golden brown.  If desired, brush with butter and sprinkle with coarse salt (I do neither!).  Remove from pans to wire racks.

NOTES:
-The water temp doesn't have to be perfect.  Just put in some warm water.
-I don't do the butter or the salt at the end. 
-Sometimes I make the rolls smaller (they can get so big when they bake!) and I make 32 rolls instead of 16.  I usually turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake them for about 6 minutes or until golden.
-Most of the time, I don't put the herbs in and just do plain white dinner rolls.  When I do this, I add an extra 1/4 cup of flour with the other flour.
-These freeze beautifully!  Be sure to let them cool completely first.

sweet.amelia

My sweet baby girl will be 2 in just a couple of weeks. We celebrated early last night with Josh's family, and she was so cute when we were singing to her! She had this little smile on her face when we sang "Amelia".

And she even blew her candle out all by herself! We didn't even practice ahead of time. So cute. I can't believe that she's almost 2. Time flies!

mexican.wyoming

For dinner tonight, we're eating Mexican Wyoming.  I found it in a cookbook that my mother-in-law gave me for my birthday several years ago.  I made some homemade tortilla chips while it was baking.  Yum!

This isn't a super-fast meal prep, but if you have everything out and ready to use, it's not too crazy.  Frying the individual tortillas is the longest part, but it is well worth it! (And honestly, it only takes about 5 minutes.)  You can use flour tortillas with this recipe, but Josh and I both agree that it is tastier with the corn. 

Mexican Wyoming

1 lb. hamburger
1 med. chopped onion
1 env. taco seasoning
1 c. water
1/2 bottle (8 oz.) mild taco sauce
1 pkg. frozen, chopped spinach (thawed)
1/4 lb. baked ham, finely chopped
12 corn tortillas
1 c. sour cream
8 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Brown hamburger and onion in skillet.  Add taco seasoning, water, and taco sauce.  Mix well.  Add spinach and ham.  Cover and simmer until well blended.

Meanwhile, heat 1-2 T. oil in another skillet.  Fry 1 tortilla at a time for about 10-30 seconds each (only one side) depending on the temp of the oil.  Drain.  Repeat with each tortilla, adding additional oil as needed.

Spoon hamburger into tortillas one at a time.  Roll up and place seam-side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Spread sour cream over tortillas and sprinkle with cheese.  Return to oven for 10 minutes. 

Top with extra sour cream and salsa.

Enjoy!

question.of.the.day

From Meredith:  Why did God put meat in deer?

chicken.manicotti

This is such a great recipe for a couple of reasons!  First of all, it is so tasty!  Secondly, it makes two family-sized (my family anyway!) dishes, and you get to freeze the second one and save it for a crazier night! 

Chicken Manicotti
1 T. garlic powder
1 1/2 lb. chicken breasts
14-16 uncooked manicotti shells
2 jars (26 oz. each) spaghetti sauce
1 lb. bulk sausage, cooked and drained
4 oz. can sliced mushrooms
4 cups (16 oz.) mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup water

1.  Rub garlic powder over chicken; cut into 1-inch strips.

2.  Stuff chicken into manicotti shells.  Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce in each of two 9x13 dishes.

3.  Place 7-8 manicotti shells in each dish. Sprinkle with sausage and mushrooms.  Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the top.  Sprinkle with cheese.

4.  Drizzle water around the edge of each dish.  Cover and bake 1 casserole at 375 degrees for 60 minutes or until chicken juices run clear and pasta is tender.

5.  Cover and freeze remaining casserole for up to 1 month (I do longer!).

6.  FROZEN CASSEROLE:  Thaw in refrigerator (I usually do it for at least 24 hours...sometimes longer).  Let it stand at room temp for 30 minutes.  Bake as directed.

menu.planning.question

My friend, Sommer, facebooked me to ask me a question about my menu planning...

Question:  Do you ALWAYS stick to your meal plan?  Do you sometimes crave something else and just do takeout? 

Here is my answer...

1. Sticking to the plan is easiest when you have a plan to begin with!

I used to just make a list of meals per week or two (maybe 7-10) and work off of that.  My problems included not wanting to make the last couple of items on the list because they took too long or I waited too late in the afternoon/evening to begin the meal.

2.  Look at your menu at the end of your day so that you already know what's for dinner tomorrow night.

It might sound like a lot of thinking ahead at first, but it is sooooo worth it!  It's just a routine that I've gotten myself into.  You know I'm addicted to my daily dockets.  I'm even going to give the pocket docket a trial run in the near future.  These are my means for being organized throughout the day. 

I always fill my docket out at the end of the day (before we head to bed or after the kids are in bed) to get my to-do list in order and check on my dinner plans.  This way I can set my crock pot out, put freezer meat in the refrigerator to thaw, and know what time to start prepping dinner the next day/evening. 

This completely alleviates me looking in the fridge at 5:00 and wondering what I can throw together for dinner. 

3.  Sticking to the meal plan

I don't always stick to my meal plan, but I probably do 90% of the time.  I've already altered our March plan because we invited some guests for Friday night, and we've never had them over before.  I know that I'm going to end up making my chicken manicotti that night because it's a home run meal!  Everyone loves it!! 

Sometimes, our parents will take us out to dinner or we'll get invited over to someone else's house.  I get excited because that gives me an extra meal for the month!  I just put a big circle on my meal calendar on the meal that I didn't cook.  That way I know that I have that particular meal.  I'll either sub it in on another night or just know I have it at the end of the month. 

4.  Doing take out

Oh, I would love to do takeout more often!  It's just not in our family of 5 budget these days to do takeout.  I could see us picking up a pizza now and then, but usually I have a stocked up freezer full of frozen pizzas for times just like this! 

I try to have frozen pizza, chicken patties, and corn dogs in the freezer for a fast and easy meal when we need something fast.  I also try to save these for when we really do need them (or Sunday lunches). 

I long for the day when we can eat out every Sunday after church!  Sunday lunch is my least favorite meal to prepare.  We usually have leftovers, but now and then we have to throw something together.  Grrrr.

Needless to say, when we get to go out for birthdays, get invited out through work, or are treated out "just because," we jump on the opportunity!  Thank you to all of you who pay for us (you know who you are)! 

5.  Making things easier

Be committed.  Know that cooking for your family is healthier than takeout, and it's so much cheaper! 

Plan your meals so that your hubby or your crock pot or your freezer is doing most of the work.  Josh cooks on average 1-2 nights per week.  Anything that needs to be grilled is cooked by him, and he loves to make stir-fry (and informs me that he would eat it once a week).  I put it on the calendar once or twice a month for sure because I know he'll make it!

I did a crock pot recipe drive several months back, and I have loved trying a ton of new recipes.  That crock pot is my best friend. 

When you make meals that freeze well, double up!  I think Quick Cooking used to call them "Freezer Pleasers."  You make 2 batches at once.  Bake one, freeze the other for later.  Love it.

The bottom line is that having a plan and knowing it ahead of time makes it really easy to stick to the plan!  Here are a couple of other resources that I use a lot.

printable calendar from tomkat studio (I print this and put it in the front of my blue binder)

All Recipes is a great place to find new recipes, as is Recipe Zaar.

Of course, my way isn't the right way, it's just the right way for us.  You have to do what works for your family.  Like I said before, I haven't always done it this way, it's just become this with everything else that I'm doing!  This is how I survive day to day. 

If you have any other questions, please let me know!  You all know that I love to give my opinion on just about anything!  :)

little.eden

We went to my sister's over the weekend, and I got to snap pictures of little Eden all day! I'm such a bad sister because I didn't get any of Jill and Eden...next time for sure! She was sooooo sweet and so much fun to see for the day. I can't wait until we get to see her again at Easter (oh, and Jill and Andrew too!). :)